99-year-old Swimmer Breaks 3 World Records on Same Day: ‘I Just Do the Best I Can’

99-year-old Betty Brussel celebrates setting three world records in one day!

On Saturday, the Canadian set the best times ever for the 100-104 age group in the 400m freestyle, 50m breaststroke and 50m backstroke, according to The Globe & Mail,

That included shattering the previous record in the 400m freestyle by nearly four minutes, with a time of 12 minutes 50 seconds, and finishing the 50m backstroke in 1:20.42, breaking the existing mark by more than five seconds, according to the Canadian Swimming Club .

99-year-old swimmer Betty Brussel broke three world records on January 20, 2024.

Master Ducks Swimming/Youtube

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“When I’m racing, I don’t think about anything. Nothing,” said Brussel — who turns 100 in July Guard. “I’m just counting laps, so I know how many I have left.”

“I always try to find a pace that I can handle – you ask a lot of your body in these races,” she added. “And in the last lap, well, I do my best.”

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According to Globe & Mail, Brussell grew up in the Netherlands and is the second of 12 children. As a teenager, she had the responsibility of taking care of her younger siblings during World War II, and at the age of 14, her parents withdrew her from school.

In 1959, the world record holder moved to Canada with her late husband, where they raised their three children in British Columbia. She then worked as a cleaner before becoming a seamstress and retiring in 1982.

“I don’t think about records at all,” Brussel said Guard. “I’m just swimming. I just do the best I can. And if it’s record good. If I win, I’m happy that I won. But if I have a good time, I’m happier.”

Speaking about her age, she added: “Sometimes I feel old. My youngest, who is 70 years old, said ‘Mom, you are old!’ But I don’t really feel old – only when I’m very tired. But the rest of the time I don’t feel old.”

Brussel explained that she gets “confidence from the water” and can “forget all her worries”.

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Source: HIS Education